In what seemed a role reversal, the Supreme Court of Israel rendered an
unusual ruling for a country besieged by terrorism. The justices
decided that terrorists should be treated as civilians and afforded
protection under the Geneva Convention.

As Dorit Beinisch, president of that Supreme Court, noted
in the inaugural Holt Lecture, it was the first time any
national court applied the protocol to terrorists.

“Our guiding principle is that the battle against terrorism must
be fought within the law,” she said in explaining the decision.